'Who is owner of London's 'benami' mansion', asks Somaiya

With the reports of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's alleged links with an arms dealer sending the political temperatures soaring, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday sought to know the beneficiary and owner of 'benami or proxy-owned mansion' in London in connection with the controversy.

"We would like to find out whose 'benami' property is it in London and what has Robert Vadra to do with it," Somaiya told ANI.

"I can understand the concern of mother-in-law Sonia Gandhi about 'damaad' Robert Vadra. This particular character in a way has got involved in several controversies in the last couple of years, this time on being involved with an arms dealer," Somaiya said.

 

"This time the investigative agencies were investigating Sanjay Bhandari, the arms dealer and suddenly Bhandari's nearer and dearer connection with Robert Vadra has come out. I have spoken with all the concerned agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the income tax department - Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) and I am very much certain that they will nail down the final beneficiary and owner of 'benami' property in a couple of weeks," he added.

Vadra made headlines when it surfaced that a certain "benami" mansion in London, brought by a controversial arms dealer in 2009, was linked to him.

The Ministry of Finance has begun a new investigation into the ongoing matter.